Complaints

We hope the standard of treatment and quality of care you or your loved one received at Bedford Hospital was high and we recognise that there is always room for improvement, and it is through your feedback that we can improve.

We want to know what you think of our services and there are several ways you can get in touch for support and advice; raise a concern; or give a compliment.

Inpatient stay

The quickest way to give us your feedback is to speak to a member of staff caring for you or your loved one. If you are staying in hospital, ask to speak to your ward sister or matron.

If you are not satisfied after speaking to the ward sister or matron you may contact the PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) team.

Complaints

We work hard to give the highest standards of care but sometime things can go wrong. If this happens, we do all we can to put things right for you as quickly as possible and do our best to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again.

If you have not been able to resolve your issue on the ward or with our PALS team you may contact us. Your complaint should be in writing (in letter or email) outlining any concerns you want addressing with as much detail as possible. If you are unable to write, please visit or call the PALS office and your complaint will be written down by a member of the team.

If you are an outpatient, please ask the staff at any reception area to put you in touch with the member of staff you need to talk to.

Bedford Hospital NHS trust will always work closely with our colleagues to ensure your complaint is dealt with efficiently and sensitively.

Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days, followed by an investigation and a full response sent to you in accordance with the NHS Complaints Regulations.

However, if you are not happy with the response, please let us know so we can discuss your concerns in more detail.

If you remain unhappy or wish to take the matter further you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. They make final decisions on complaints about the NHS that have not been resolved. Their service is free and independent of government. You can complain to them directly online (if you have an electronic version of this letter, by clicking on this link), via their website at www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on the telephone: 0345 015 4033; their postal details are included in the complaints leaflet, which was previously sent to you.

Contacting complaints

Help to make your complaint

If you require additional help and support during any part of the complaint process, you may wish to contact POhWER advocacy service. This service is free, independent and confidential. To contact POhWER, the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS), you can visit www.pohwer.net telephone 0300 456 2370

If you need any further information about health and social care services you can contact Healthwatch. Healthwatch provides a powerful voice locally to influence the delivery and design of services. You can contact them on:

Compliments

We really value feedback about our staff and services and appreciate you taking the time to write to us. In addition to letting us know how we are doing, you can also leave feedback (anonymously if you wish) on the NHS Choices website. And you can Tweet us comments on @BedfordHospital too.